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Briefing Notes
Regulation
Competition agencies worldwide now use AI tools routinely to detect cartels and bid-rigging, but the legal framework governing those tools has not kept pace
AI-generated enforcement decisions that cannot be explained create annulment risk at every step from dawn raid to final decision.
M&A
Global M&A reaches record $2.8 trillion in H1 2026, with mega-deals over $10 billion accounting for nearly half of all deal volume
Mega-deal concentration means every large strategic acquisition now carries a multi-jurisdictional antitrust risk that smaller deals simply do not.
Banking & Finance
Paramount Skydance agrees to freeze its $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery until June 2027 as federal antitrust proceedings proceed
A $600 million-per-quarter ticking fee turns every week of regulatory delay into a nine-figure balance sheet liability.
Energy & Tech
CATL partners with Alfen and Solarpro to deploy up to 7 GWh of sodium-ion battery storage across Europe in a dual clean-energy push
Sodium-ion's cost and cold-weather advantages make it the technology that could unlock grid-scale storage across Central and Eastern Europe's harsher climates.
International
Private equity is acquiring management services organisations (MSOs) around US law firms as outside ownership rules evolve state by state
The MSO structure turns law firm back-office infrastructure into a PE investable asset without touching the professional conduct rules.
Capital Markets
SpaceX's post-IPO trajectory closely mirrors past mega-IPO patterns, with shares falling more than 30% after the initial first-day surge
Post-IPO price drops of 30% are normal for mega-listings and should be priced into the lock-up and stabilisation architecture from day one.
Disputes
WSP wins all three lots on the Environment Agency's new National Groundwater Modelling Framework, strengthening its public infrastructure disputes and advisory portfolio
A single supplier winning all lots of a public framework creates a procurement challenge pressure point that losing bidders will examine closely.